Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1887-07-23

high and cracked.
aWhy, what is it--what is it'" she said,
eonfusedly. II feel dazed. Surely the
quality of the fire hath not altered. Can the
principle OF life nlterl Tell me, Kallikrates,
Is there aught wrong with my oyesi / see
not clear, y and she put her hand to her head
and touched her hoir-and, oh, horror Of
horrors!-it all fell off upon the floor, leaving
her utterly bald.
aOh looll lookl lookl' shrieked Job, in n
shrill falsetto of terror, his eyes nearly drop
ping out of his head, and foam upon his lips
"I.ook! lookl look she's shriveling upl she's
turning into monkeyls and down he foil
upon the floor, foaming and gnashing in fit
True enough-I faint even as / write it In
tho living presence Of that terrible recollec-
tion-sho was shrivcling up; the golden snake
that had encircled her gracious form slipped
over her hips and fell upon the ground;
smaller and smaller she grow; her skin
changed color, and in place of the perfect
whiteness Of its luster it turned dirty brown
and yellow, like an old piece of withered
parchment. She felt at her bald head; the
delicate hand was nothing but claw now, q
human talon, like that Of badly preserved
Egyptian mummy, and then she seemed to
realize what kind of change was passing over
her. and she shrieked-ah, she shriekedi-she
rolled upon the floor and shriekedl
Smaller she grew, and smaller yet, till she
was no larger than O she balloon. Now the
skin was puckered into million wrinkles,
and on the shapeless face was the stamp Of
unutterable age. never saw anything like
It; nobody ever saw anything like tho fright
full age that was craven on that fearful coun
tenance, no bigger now than that of a two
months child, though the skull remained tbs
same size, or nearly so, and let all men pray
TO God they never may, II they wish to keep
their reason.
At last she lay still, or only feebly moving.
She who but two minutes before had gazod
upon us the loveliest, noblest, most splendid
woman the world had ever seen, she lay still
before us, near the masses of her own dark
hair no larger than big monkey, and
hideous--ah, too hideous for words And
yet, think OF this--at that very moment
thought of tit was the same womanl
She was dying; we saw it, and thanked
God-for while she lived she could feel, and
what must she havo feltl She raised herself
upon her bony hands, and blindly gazed
around her, swaying her head slowly from
side to side as tortoise docs She could not
see for her whitish eyes were covered with o
horny film. Oh, the hor, ible pathos of the
sight, But she could still! speak. M
"Kallikrates," she said IN husky, trembling
notes. "Forget me not Kallikrates. Have
pity on my shame; STALL como again, and
shall once more be beautiful, swear tit is
| true! Oh-h-h--i" and she fell upon her
| face and was still.
On the very spot where twenty centuries
| before she had slain the old Kallikrates, she
herself fell down and died.
Overcome with the extremity Of horror,
we, too, fell on the sandy floor Of that dread
place. and swooned away.
| know not how long we lay thus. Many
hours, I suppose. When at last / opened my
eyes the other two were still outstretched
upon the floor. The rosy light still beamed
| like a celestial dawn, and the thunder wheel:
Of the spirit of life stilled rolled upon theiI
accustomed track, for as | awoke the great
pillar was passing away. There, too, lay the
hideous little monkey frame, covered witt
| crinkled yellow parchment, that once haC
been the glorious She Alas! it was no hid
eous dream-it was an awful and unparalleled
| facti
What had happened 10 bring this shocking
change abouti Had the nature Of tho life
giving fire changeda Did it perhaps from
time to time send forth an essence of death
instead of an essence OF lifea Or was it that
the frame once charged with its marvellous
virtue could bear no more, so that were the
process repeated-it mattered not what lapse
of time-the two appropriations neutrali2ed
each other and left the body OH which they
acted as it was before it ever came into con
tact with the very essence of life9 This, and
this alone, would account for the sudden and
terrible aging Of Ayesha, as the whole length
Of her 1900 years took effect upon her.
have not the slightest doubt myself but that
the frame now lying before me was Just what
the frame Of a woman would be if by any
extraordinary means life could be preserved
in her till she at length died at the age Of
twenty-five centuries.
Iy..A An rt.nAl Ill Il
There was the fact. Often since that awful
hour have reflected that it required no great
stretch Of imagination to see the finger Of
Providence in the matter Ayesha locked III
in her living tomb, waiting from age to age
for tho coming of her lover, worked but
small change in the order of the world. Blu
Ayesba, strong and happy in her love
clothed in immortal youth and godlikt
beauty, and the wisdom Of the centuries
would have reYolutioniged society, and ever
porchance have changed the destiny of man
kind. Thus she opposed herself against thu
eternal law, and strong though sho was, by i
was swept back to nothingnesS--swept bacl
with shame and hideous mockery.
For some minutes | lay family turning
these terrors over in my mind, while my
physical strength came back to me- which il
soon did i'll that buoyant atmosphere Ther
| bethought rlo of the others, and staggered
4
FIRST took up Ayesha's kirtle and the gauzJ
scarf with which she had been won't to hid,
her dazzling loneliness from the eyes Of men
and, avertng my head so that l might no
look upon it, covered up that dreadful relic
Of Tic glorious dead, that shocking epitoin
OF human beauty and human life. / did thi
hurriedly, fearing lest Leo should recover anC
see it again.
Then, stepping over tho perfumed masses O
dark hair that lay upon the sand, STOPPED
down by Job, who was lying upon his face
and turned him over. AS did so his arm
fell back in a way that did not like, anC
which sent a chill through me, and glanced
sharply at him. One look was enough. Oul
old and faithful servant was dead. Hi
nerves, already shattered by all he had seer
and undergone, had utterly broken down be
meath this last dire sight, agd he had died o.
terror, or in fit brought on by terror. Ont
had only TO look Mt his face to see it.
1t was another blow but perhaps it YnaJ
help people to understand how overwhelm
ingly awful was the experience through wheel
we had passed--we did not feel itmuch at ths
time. II seemed quite natural that the poo
old fellow sho8ld be dead When Leo came
to himself, which he did with a groan ant
trembling of the limbs about ten minute:
afterward, and told him that Job was dead
he merely said, ~Ohr And, mind you, thi'
was from no lleai elessness, for he and Jot
were much attached to each other; and hi
! often talks of HRS now with the deepest re
greet and affection II was only that hi
nerves would bear no more. A harp c9n only
/ oyiya ont N ceftaip Oalartity of sound how